"Uwah, Fang Zheng, that was way too evil of you."
After listening to Fang Zheng’s story, Eiriri couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath.
"What’s the big deal? She wanted an explanation, so I gave her one, problem solved."
Driving with one hand, Fang Zheng shrugged, while Kato Megumi, sitting in the back seat, lowered her head.
"I’m really sorry, Fang Zheng, for making you go to all this trouble."
"Don’t be so polite. You’re my woman anyway, this kind of small favor is no big deal."
Right, this was exactly the method Fang Zheng had used. Didn’t Chumi Hodashima want to know why Kato Megumi’s feelings had shifted? He couldn’t tell her the truth, so he simply decided to put on a show—Fang Zheng turning into a domineering CEO, flat out saying, I, Fang Zheng, took a liking to Kato Megumi and snatched her away from that damn otaku, deal with it if you can———hm, and it wasn’t even entirely a lie.
And as it turned out, this really was quite effective.
"But wasn’t that last part a little too much?"
"Was it? That’s how little girls who haven’t been beaten up by society are. Giving her a bit of a scare is normal."
"Fang Zheng, what if Chumi Hodashima actually agreed to your proposal?"
"Then so what? It’s not like I’d be the one losing out."
"Really?"
"Of course. In novels, the plot where a girl sacrifices herself for the one she loves looks super romantic, but in reality there is no such thing as love that doesn’t seek any return. Maybe at the beginning you really do think, ’I don’t care what happens to me, I just want you to live happily,’ but give it enough time and that mindset will definitely twist and warp... Megumi, weren’t you the same?"
At this, Fang Zheng glanced at Kato Megumi through the rearview mirror, and Eiriri also raised an eyebrow and stopped talking. Indeed, at the start Kato Megumi had been like that too. The fundamental reason she was willing to accept Aki Tomoya’s proposal was, of course, because she still loved Aki Tomoya, so even that kind of absurd demand, Kato Megumi had agreed to.
But in the process, Kato Megumi’s mentality had also changed. After all, once or twice is one thing, but not three or four times... If it kept going like that, even Megumi would start wondering whether Aki Tomoya actually loved her, or was just using her to satisfy his perverted desires.
And so in the end, the two of them broke up.
"People who read too many romance novels are like this, always thinking they can silently support someone from the shadows. But the fact is, if you don’t say anything, who the hell is supposed to know how much you’ve been swallowing your grievances for them? Heh heh..."
At this point, Fang Zheng couldn’t help recalling the story Akemi Homura had told him about Saya. According to Akemi Homura, Saya had always secretly loved her childhood friend, and in order to heal his hand she chose to become a Magical Girl. But of course she never told Kamijou Kyousuke any of this. In the end Kamijou Kyousuke started dating Shizuku Hitomi, Saya’s mentality collapsed and she turned into a Witch———a perfect example.
You think you’re so noble and amazing for silently sacrificing yourself, but since you chose to do it silently, then don’t expect anyone to know who the hell you are. Whatever grievances you’ve got, just shut up and endure them—that’s what you signed up for. Just like all those heroines in romance novels who suffer god knows how much for the male lead, only to be "redeemed" when some third party finally finds the guy and goes, "Do you have any idea what XXX has done for you...?" Isn’t that all self-inflicted?
The reason Fang Zheng suddenly spoke to Chumi Hodashima like that earlier was also because he wanted to give this little girl a lesson, make her at least recognize her own position a bit. But just like he’d said to Eiriri, whether Chumi Hodashima accepted it or not, he wasn’t going to take any damage. If Chumi Hodashima refused, that would at least prove the kid still had a somewhat normal set of values.
If Chumi Hodashima accepted it... well, Fang Zheng certainly wouldn’t be the one suffering.
He’d laid out the options, Chumi Hodashima would make her choice, and then she’d bear the consequences. Simple as that.
For Fang Zheng, that was all there was to it.
And yet, two days later, Fang Zheng got another call from Eiriri.
"Wahahaha, Fang Zheng, you really did it this time!"
"What happened?"
Hearing the delight in Eiriri’s laughter, Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow, and Eiriri giggled as she spoke.
"Chumi Hodashima just called me and said she wants to meet you."
Obviously, Chumi Hodashima assumed Fang Zheng would never casually tell anyone about this kind of thing, and she hadn’t gotten his contact information at the time, so she could only ask Eiriri to pass a message. What she didn’t know was that Eiriri had already heard about the whole thing from Fang Zheng. So the moment she heard Chumi Hodashima’s request, she couldn’t wait to come report it to him.
"What a stubborn idiot..."
"Right, right. By the way, Fang Zheng, are we shooting video this time too? I’ve seriously been practicing my photography Skill since last time, you know?"
"...You getting addicted or something? But seriously, what are you so happy about?"
Listening to Eiriri’s bubbly tone, Fang Zheng really couldn’t figure it out... She did dislike that girl named Chumi Hodashima, sure, but it shouldn’t be to the point of gloating this hard.
"Because doesn’t this mean we can rescue yet another girl from that guy’s hands? That perverted four-eyed bastard completely screwed up our lives, whether it’s me or Megumi... add that Shiyu of Misty Hill into the mix too. And now it looks like Chumi Hodashima is the same. Hmph, to think she’d even be willing to sell herself for that idiot. I think you should move fast, Fang Zheng, make her forget about that guy as soon as possible."
As she said this, there was a faint grinding of teeth in Eiriri’s voice. She’d been the first among them to jump out of that sea of misery, and precisely because of that, when she looked back at what she’d done for him before, she realized just how stupid and ridiculous she’d been. So seeing other people able to escape that hell like she had was naturally something Eiriri considered a good thing.
"Alright, I get it."
"Then I’ll go prepare the room and the camera right away..."
"You’re not preparing anything."
See? This was another twisted case.
In the end, Fang Zheng and Chumi Hodashima met again in a café.
"Didn’t think you’d actually come looking for me."
Looking at the tense, uneasy girl sitting across from him, Fang Zheng smiled as he spoke, and Chumi Hodashima lowered her head.
"Um... Fang Zheng."
"Hm?"
"That thing you mentioned before... is it still valid?"
"What thing?"
"Th-the..."
Facing Fang Zheng’s amused gaze, Chumi Hodashima hesitated for a moment, then finally clenched her teeth.
"You said... if I... if I become your woman, you’ll help Tomoya-senpai..."
"Oh, that. Of course it’s still valid."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng laced his fingers together in front of him, looking at the girl with a half-smile.
"You’ve decided to do it? You don’t even have any real relationship with him, and you’re the victim here, you know."
"Even so..."
Facing Fang Zheng’s words, Chumi Hodashima didn’t even know what she was supposed to say, and only lowered her head.
In fact, after that, Chumi Hodashima really did try to handle this on her own. For example, she went to the police and claimed it was all a misunderstanding, hoping the police could release Aki Tomoya—of course, that request was rejected. On the one hand, this case had already turned into a media carnival: they’d caught an otaku criminal and even found a bunch of 18+ games when they searched his house. All of this had the media all over Japan acting like they’d been injected with stimulants, going wild with excitement. You could say that, during this period of time, this case was the center of attention in the whole media landscape.
Precisely because of this, if the police casually dropped the charges, they might end up being targeted by the media instead, and then things would get even uglier for them.
Besides, the evidence had been ironclad from the start. No matter what Chumi Hodashima said now, both the witness statements and physical evidence at the time indicated that Aki Tomoya had tried to force himself on her, and Aki Tomoya himself had already confessed. Under these circumstances, there was no longer any room for Chumi Hodashima to step in.
The police even asked her if she was being threatened by someone into withdrawing the accusation... The question scared Chumi Hodashima so much she shook her head frantically, and never dared bring it up again.
Worse still, she couldn’t even talk to her own family about this. Although Aki Tomoya’s side had been dug up down to the last detail, Chumi Hodashima’s personal information as the victim was well protected. Of course, her parents and her older brother were naturally aware of what had happened.
As a matter of course, Chumi Hodashima’s parents and elder brother were furious at Aki Tomoya for trying to force himself on her. Her brother even said, "I never thought he was such a bastard," and declared he was going to cut ties with him. Under circumstances like these, Chumi Hodashima didn’t dare discuss it with her family—if they found out she actually wanted to plead for the perpetrator, who knew what they would say.
"You’re already a high school student. I don’t think I need to remind you what it means to make a choice."
Fang Zheng took a sip of coffee and looked at Chumi Hodashima.
"Once you make a choice, you have to bear the consequences. And those consequences may not be what you want. Are you sure you’re ready for that?"
"............"
Confronted with Fang Zheng’s question, Chumi Hodashima hesitated for a moment, then clenched her fists and nodded hard.
"Yes, Mr. Fang Zheng."
"Heh, self‐sacrifice. Well, maybe you think that’s a virtue."
Fang Zheng finished his coffee, stood up, and glanced out the window.
"Then come with me."
Chumi Hodashima couldn’t even remember how she ended up in Fang Zheng’s car and then at the hotel. By the time Fang Zheng opened the door to the room, her whole body had gone tense. For a brief instant, she thought about running away. But then she recalled the scene she’d seen before.
The graffiti sprayed all over the outside of Aki Tomoya’s parents’ building—"Criminal" and the like—various threats and curses. Aki Tomoya’s mother always walked out of the house with her head down, not daring to meet anyone’s eyes, and she looked much older than before.
This wasn’t just for Tomoya‐senpai, it was for his family too...
Thinking of that, Chumi Hodashima clenched her fists and stepped into the room.
And the door slammed shut behind her with a heavy thud.
For Chumi Hodashima, trying to clear Aki Tomoya’s name was extremely difficult, practically impossible. But for Fang Zheng, all he needed to do was take out Ratziel and write a single line in it.
And that was exactly how it went. Very soon, the case that had been making a huge racket across society just mysteriously vanished. In the span of a single night, by the next day, the TV news, newspapers, online media—no one was mentioning the case anymore. Many people even behaved as if it had never happened at all.
As for Aki Tomoya himself, since it was "only an attempt," he was eventually released after posting a hefty bail.
Right now, not far from the detention center, Chumi Hodashima was peering through the window, staring at the tightly closed iron gate.
"It really is today?"
"That’s right, it should be any time now."
"But, Mr. Fang Zheng..."
"Hm?"
"Um... can we not do it here..."
As she spoke, Chumi Hodashima turned her flushed face away and looked back at Fang Zheng behind her. At the moment, the two of them were both in the front passenger seat; the only difference was that Fang Zheng was sitting on the actual seat, while Chumi Hodashima was sitting on Fang Zheng’s lap. Her legs were spread, and a glistening trace of fluid was seeping down from under her skirt.
"Don’t forget, you’re my toy. I can play with you however I want, can’t I?"
"But what if someone sees us, and... Tomoya‐senpai is about to come out..."
"In that case, you’d better hurry up and try harder. Otherwise it’ll be really embarrassing, won’t it?"
"Mm..."
Hearing Fang Zheng’s reply, Chumi Hodashima bit her lip, but still began to slowly move her body up and down. At first her movements were cautious and clumsy, but gradually the girl’s panting grew more urgent, and Fang Zheng reached out to grip her slender waist, thrusting up hard.
Since Fang Zheng wasn’t driving an ordinary sports car but a van, the interior space was quite large, and the heavy chassis jolted and shuddered with each movement. To keep the sounds from leaking outside, Chumi Hodashima pressed both hands tightly over her mouth.
Until finally...
"Ngh...!!!"
The girl’s body jerked violently, then went limp, collapsing against Fang Zheng.
"Haa... haa..."
Chumi Hodashima’s cheeks were faintly flushed, her eyes vacant as she stared up at the car ceiling. Just then, Fang Zheng’s voice reached her ears.
"Oh, he’s out."
"Eh?!"
At that, Chumi Hodashima hurriedly roused herself, pushed herself up, and looked outside. She saw the iron gate of the detention center open, and then Aki Tomoya, empty‐handed, walked out. Compared to before, he seemed even more dejected now. Seeing this, Chumi Hodashima hastily straightened her clothes and was about to open the door and get out.
But just then...
A girl with purple hair suddenly appeared in her field of vision. The girl quickly walked up to Aki Tomoya, looked at him with concern, said something to him, then took his hand and turned to leave.
Chumi Hodashima only stared blankly at the two figures as they walked away, saying nothing. In the car, the only sound was the music still playing on Fang Zheng’s radio.
"I should be under the car, not sitting inside, watching how sweet you are. That way it’d be easier for me to give up and find the courage to walk away..."
".........Mr. Fang Zheng."
"Hm? What is it? Aren’t you going to go say hello?"
"No."
Chumi Hodashima shook her head, then turned to look at Fang Zheng.
"Um... can we go again?"

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